The Story of Cats - Netflix

Editor

The Story of Cats tells the story of the most popular pet on earth –
the cat.

The series sets out to offer an eye-opening and entertaining insight
into the relationship between big cats in the wild and our domestic
pussycats and the feline species' journey from the jungles of South East
Asia to the African savannah and ultimately into our homes.

Type: Documentary

Languages: English

Status: To Be Determined

Runtime: 60 minutes

Premier: 2016-03-06

The Story of Cats - The Cats of Ulthar - Netflix

“The Cats of Ulthar” is a short story written by American fantasy author
H. P. Lovecraft in June 1920. In the tale, an unnamed narrator relates
the story of how a law forbidding the killing of cats came to be in a
town called Ulthar. As the narrative goes, the city is home to an old
couple who enjoy capturing and killing the townspeople's cats. When a
caravan of wanderers passes through the city, the kitten of an orphan
(Menes) traveling with the band disappears. Upon hearing of the couple's
violent acts towards cats, Menes invokes a prayer before leaving town
that causes the local felines to swarm the cat-killers' house and devour
them. Upon witnessing the result, the local politicians pass a law
forbidding the killing of cats. Influenced by Lord Dunsany, the tale was
a personal favorite of Lovecraft's and has remained popular since his
death. Considered one of the best short stories of Lovecraft's early
period, aspects of The Cats of Ulthar would be referenced again in the
author's works The Other Gods and The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. It
was first published in the literary journal Tryout in November 1920 and
now resides in the public domain.

The Story of Cats - Synopsis - Netflix

An unnamed narrator, while gazing upon his pet cat, begins to reminisce
about a law in the town of Ulthar which forbids the killing of cats and
relates the story of how this law came to be. The tale begins with the
introduction of an old cotter and his wife who delight in trapping and
violently killing any cats who venture onto their property. The people
of the town are too afraid of the couple to speak against these acts, so
they instead focus their efforts on keeping their felines from
approaching the cotter's house. One night a caravan of travelers from a
distant land arrives and passes through the village. They bring with
them an orphan named Menes who, having lost his family to a plague, has
only a small, black kitten to keep him company. After being unable to
find his kitten on the third day of his stay, Menes hears the stories of
the old cotter and his wife, and decides to take action. Menes spends
time meditating prior to unleashing a prayer that affects the shapes and
movements of the clouds in the sky. The caravan leaves Ulthar that
night, shortly before the townspeople notice that all of their cats have
gone missing. The townspeople suspect both the old couple and the
wanderers, but the innkeeper's son Atal witnesses the felines circling
the property of the cotter. The next morning, the cats have returned to
their owners well-fed, but the cotter and his wife have vanished. When
the townspeople explore their abandoned house, they discovered nothing
more than two skeletons that have been picked clean. The local
burgesses, after reviewing the evidence and stories of the townspeople,
decide to pass a law that forbids the killing of cats in Ulthar.